Oshin
Oshin is a Japanese serialized morning television drama, which originally aired on NHK from 4 March 1983 to 31 March 1984; it is the 31st asadora overall to be produced. The 297 15-minute episodes follow the life of Shin Tanokura during the Meiji period up to the early 1980s. In the work, Shin is called Oshin, the O- forming an archaic cognomen.
It was one of the country's most watched serials of all time and has aired in 68 other countries, with subtitles ranging from English to Arabic. In 1984, the earlier episodes of the drama were made into an animated movie by Sanrio. The movie reused Sugako Hashida's scripts, and Ayako Kobayashi, who played young Oshin, did Oshin's voiceover.
Background
Oshin is based on the fictional biography of a Japanese woman, modeled after Katsu Wada, who co-founded the supermarket chain Yaohan with her husband Ryōhei Wada. The structure of the story was developed through a collection of anonymous letters assembled by Sugako Hashida. "It is the untellable past of a woman of the Meiji period, composed right on her deathbed," Hashida said. "I felt that the telling of her hardships while serving as an apprentice and being sold at a brothel was an obligation our generation needed to honor. However, the themes were so harsh and dark that the show was rejected by every television network. Even NHK opposed it." Hashida said she was told "We can't confront Meiji issues." It was settled when then-station director gave his approval.Plot
The story starts in 1983. Instead of attending the opening festivities of the 17th store, Shin Tanokura decides to go on a train trip. Her family is in a frenzy, not knowing where she disappeared to. Oshin's grandson, Kei, remembers the story of the kokeshi doll she once told him. Based on a hunch thinking about the story, he goes on a trip of his own and finds Oshin in Yamagata. From there, the two of them begin a journey back in time, traveling through various parts of Japan including where she once lived years earlier, and starts remembering the difficult times that she faced in her life.Early years in Yamagata
In 1907 Yamagata, seven-year-old Oshin is sent off by her father to work as a babysitter to support her sharecropper family. Her boss is a timber trader, and despite the physical and verbal abuse from the chief servant at his household, Oshin insisted on enduring it for the sake of her family. A sympathetic local teacher persuades the trader to allow Oshin to attend elementary school and bring the baby along. However, Oshin's classmates bully her and threaten to harm the baby. Oshin reluctantly stops going to school. However, when she is unjustly accused by the family of stealing money, she runs away, and for days suffers through blizzards as she walks back home to be with her mother, Fuji, nearly freezing to death.Oshin is rescued by a man named Shunsaku, an Imperial Japanese Army soldier-turned-deserter, and a self-described "hunter". She stays with him during the long winter until the snow melts. She furthers her reading and writing skills under Shunsaku. When the blizzard subsides, they are found by an army unit and Shunsaku is shot dead. Oshin is then escorted by the soldiers to a hut and interrogated about Shunsaku. A senior soldier then comes into the hut and tells Oshin that the unit will escort her home. However, Oshin declines the offer, mentioning that she knows the way, and walks home on her own.
Working at Kaga-ya
Upon her return, Oshin is once again sent out to work as a babysitter, this time to Kaga-ya in Sakata. Things do not start well because of Oshin's association with the deserter, Shunsaku. She also clashes with Kayo, the family's eldest daughter and designated heir, who is the same age as she. But the matriarch and owner of Kaga-ya, Mrs. Yashiro, views Oshin as a role model to make Kayo more sensible and less like a spoilt child. Kayo resents this, but they eventually become good friends. Mrs. Yashiro sees the potential in Oshin and personally trains her in reading, writing, and arithmetic using the abacus. Kayo's mother is unhappy with the attention Oshin receives, feeling that it is socially out of place for a servant. However, she accepts Oshin into the family when Oshin saves Kayo from a falling utility pole.Oshin stays at Kaga-ya for eight years until she turns 16. During this time, she is loved by everyone, including her co-workers. In the interim, Oshin's beloved grandmother dies, and the kind Mrs. Yashiro sends Oshin back home in time to spend the last moments with her dying grandmother. Her death steels Oshin's resolve to make something out of her life and to no longer be poor.
One day, a mysterious man, Kōta Takakura, visits Sakata. While Oshin is looking for Kayo, who was at the beach, Kōta uses Oshin as a foil as his girlfriend to elude the police. Kayo and Oshin's lives are changed by this man, the son of a wealthy landowner and an idealist who is a strong follower of socialism, and wants to better the lives of the indebted sharecroppers through political agitation and land reforms. Kōta reveals to Oshin his political mobilization efforts and wins her over with his idealism and passion. Unfortunately, both Kayo and Oshin fall in love with Kōta; however, Kōta does not reciprocate Kayo's love, feeling that it is simply an infatuation, while he has declared his love for Oshin.
In the meantime, Mrs. Yashiro trains Oshin in the Japanese tea ceremony and other feminine arts to boost her chances of marrying well. She attempts to set Oshin up with the second son of a wealthy Sakata family, but the match falls through because of Oshin's secret love for Kōta. Kayo, who has grown up to be passionate about painting and literature, has no interest in taking over Kaga-ya, nor in the feminine arts to improve her marriage prospects. She believes in marrying the man she loves. A rebellious Kayo leaves home on the day she was to meet her prospective husband, fleeing to Tokyo with a reluctant Kōta. Heartbroken and feeling troubled by Kayo's decision to run away from home, and unable to reveal the truth to the Kaga-ya family about Kōta, a guilt-stricken Oshin decides to leave Kaga-ya and return home.
Return to Yamagata
Upon returning, Oshin is re-united with her older sister, Haru, who was sent home from the textile mill where she had contracted tuberculosis. Haru's last wish is to see her secret love, her former supervisor, Hirano, who is persuaded to visit her. While visiting, Hirano reveals the poor working conditions at the textile mill and his failure to improve the workers' welfare for fear of losing his job. In the meantime, Oshin discovers that her father wants her to work as a barmaid to supplement the family's income. Haru warns Oshin that the agent touting the job had previously conned her fellow textile workers into prostitution. Haru persuades Oshin to run off to Tokyo, giving her a name and address in Tokyo and some money. Haru dies at the age of 19 in 1916. Oshin's mother Fuji, who had also returned home to take care of Haru, supports Oshin in her decision to go to Tokyo. Following her sister's death, Oshin runs off to Tokyo to follow Haru's dream of becoming a hairdresser.Hairdressing in Tokyo
Oshin trains under Isho in traditional Japanese hairstyling. Two years into the apprenticeship, Oshin receives a letter from her mother informing her of the sudden death of Sayo, the younger sister of Kayo, from pneumonia. Oshin had also been her babysitter at Kaga-ya in Sakata. Oshin takes leave to visit the grieving family in Sakata. She is told that Kayo had not returned home and was somewhere in Tokyo. Kayo's mother pleads with her to stay behind but Oshin is unable to do so. Oshin is still hurting emotionally from when Kayo and Kōta left Sakata two years earlier.A year later, Oshin bumps into Kayo at a coffee house in the Ginza while visiting prospective clients on a house call. Kayo had been working as a waitress at an upscale Ginza coffee house. Due to his agitation work, Kōta was not usually around. Upon learning about Sayo's death, Kayo decides to visit her family in Sakata, staying there for a month.
In the meantime, Mrs. Yashiro arranges Kayo's marriage with the third son of an Osaka rice dealer, Masao, a graduate of the Tokyo Imperial University, who is prepared to marry into the family to help the family business succeed. Kayo wants to leave for Tokyo to be present for Kōta's return. But when Mrs. Yashiro collapses from a heart attack, Kayo reluctantly stays behind. She telephones Oshin to inform her when Kōta returns to Tokyo. Oshin meets Kōta when visiting Kayo's rented room to clean it. He tells Oshin not to let Kayo know that he is back in Tokyo, and tells Oshin that he does not love Kayo, and that he had only used her to fill the emotional void left behind when he was not able to be with Oshin. Oshin leaves for Sakata to attend Kayo's wedding. She does not update Kayo with news about Kōta for the sake of Kaga-ya's future. Through Kayo, Oshin meets Ryūzō Tanokura, a seemingly rich textile trader who frequents the Ginza coffee houses. The third son of a prominent Saga family, Ryūzō decided to leave home for Tokyo to strike out on his own. Seven years Oshin's senior, Ryūzō falls in love with her, and the two get married despite initial opposition from both their parents.
Married life in Tokyo
Ryūzō's business begins to go downhill due to the post-war depression and his lack of business acumen. Oshin's attempts to improve business practices are badly received by Ryūzō who believes that business is a man's world. To supplement the family income, Oshin decides to return to work for Isho with Ryūzō's reluctant approval as married women did not usually work. As she increasingly takes on the role of breadwinner, Ryūzō feels undermined as he believes that it is the man's job to look after the family. He becomes increasingly despondent and indolent, and turns to alcohol and women, while Oshin turns a blind eye because of her love for him.After a confrontation during which Ryūzō makes clear his bitterness, Oshin realises that her working to supporting the family had wounded his pride. She decides that it would be better for Ryūzō if she were to leave him. However, Oshin then discovers that she is pregnant. She decides to quit hairdressing to save her marriage. But with the loss of her income, the household comes to the brink of starvation before Ryūzō realises that he cannot let his pride get in the way of supporting his family. He borrows money to tide them over, and they start to think of a new business venture.
Realising they need capital to start a new business, Oshin persuades Ryūzō to allow her to try selling their cloth at a night market. After a rocky start, she manages to sell all their stock within 10 days with help from gang ringleader Ken. They decide to use the proceeds to start a new business selling Western-style children's clothes designed by Oshin. Due to lacklustre business, Ryūzō arranges to sell their products at Onoya, a large local shop. The affordable clothes are sold out at Onoya on the first day, and Ryūzō begins to expand production despite Oshin's misgivings.
With Oshin's baby arriving soon, Ryūzō arranges for Fuji to visit. Oshin gives birth to a healthy baby boy whom they name Yū. After Fuji leaves, Ryūzō's father also pays a visit to see the baby. The couple learns that Ryūzō's mother Kiyo still refuses to accept Oshin. Ryūzō decides to borrow large sums of money to buy a plot of land and build a large factory, convinced that a successful business will prove his worth even as a third son and persuade his mother to accept their marriage.
One day, they receive an unexpected visit from Kayo who says she has come to see the baby. However she soon reveals that she wishes to run away from her unhappy marriage in Sakata and find Kōta, whom she has learned is at his parents' house in Tokyo. Kōta agrees to meet with Kayo who expresses her desire to be with him. However Kōta tells her that the only reason he met with her was to apologise for the way that he had left her. With his continued involvement in the workers' movement, he was not in a position to have a relationship. Kayo finally realises what a fool she has been all these years and that Oshin was the one Kōta had loved. Kayo resolves to return to Sakata and bear an heir to carry on the family business.
After months of building work and preparation, it is finally the day of the grand opening of the new factory. However disaster strikes, as the Great Kantō earthquake and subsequent fire destroy their factory and house. Their faithful retainer Genji dies protecting Yū, who survives unscathed.
With only shattered dreams and debts, Ryūzō decides that they have no choice but to return to his family in Saga. Oshin is fearful of the treatment she will receive at the hands of her mother-in-law and urges Ryūzō to try once again to build their lives in Tokyo. But after so much disappointment, Ryūzō no longer has the will to try again. Although Oshin wants to stay on in Tokyo with Yū, Fuji persuades her to stay together with Ryūzō for the sake of their son.